That Valentine's Day morning, Dimick was dispatched to a domestic disturbance at Beach RV, a mobile home park on the 2500 block of Portola Drive in Live Oak.

He found a 13-year-old girl who had been severely stabbed. The girl said she escaped from her father, but her mother was still being brutally attacked inside their mobile home.

"As Dimick approached the motor home he could hear sounds of a struggle and a female voice yelling for help. Dimick observed a bloody knife lying on the ground outside the door," deputy April Skalland said.

He stepped into the trailer and saw a man standing over his wife and stabbing her in the chest, neck and face, Skalland said. He ordered Christopher Lindner, 45, to stop, but he continued stabbing and choking his 36-year-old wife, Skalland said.

Dimick shot Lindner with a Taser and pulled him off the woman who was screaming and covered in her own blood.

The mother and daughter were rushed to Dominican Hospital, where they recovered from life-threatening injuries.

"Dimick's heroic and decisive actions saved two lives," Skalland said. "His quick response, accurate assessment of risk, excellent decision making and appropriate use of force saved two members of a family."

On Friday, Lindner was still locked in the Santa Cruz County jail on charges of attempted murder and aggravated mayhem.